TY - GEN
T1 - A study of aerosol generation and dispersion in sanitary facilities
AU - Wang, C. T.
AU - Xu, J. C.
AU - Guo, H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Healthy Buildings 2023: Asia and Pacific Rim. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Toilets have been recognized as potential transmission hubs of infectious diseases. However, aerosol generation and exposure in a toilet are limited studied. In this work, field measurements of aerosol generation from toilet flushing, urinating, and hand washing were conducted with an optical particle sizer. Aerosol dispersion in a standard public toilet was then investigated by computational fluid dynamics simulation. The generated aerosols from toilets were mainly smaller than 0.5 µm. Toilet flushing generated most aerosols with a concentration of 1.4×103 #/cm3, followed by urinating of 8×102 #/cm3 and hand washing of 7×102 #/cm3. The released aerosols stayed in the toilet for more than 60 seconds. The users near the cubical, urinary, and water basin had intake fractions of 0.16%, 0.08%, and 0.05% respectively, which are much higher than that in normal indoor environments of 0.001%-0.01%. This study can help propose control measures for sanitary facilities, such as bubble prevention and personalized exhaust.
AB - Toilets have been recognized as potential transmission hubs of infectious diseases. However, aerosol generation and exposure in a toilet are limited studied. In this work, field measurements of aerosol generation from toilet flushing, urinating, and hand washing were conducted with an optical particle sizer. Aerosol dispersion in a standard public toilet was then investigated by computational fluid dynamics simulation. The generated aerosols from toilets were mainly smaller than 0.5 µm. Toilet flushing generated most aerosols with a concentration of 1.4×103 #/cm3, followed by urinating of 8×102 #/cm3 and hand washing of 7×102 #/cm3. The released aerosols stayed in the toilet for more than 60 seconds. The users near the cubical, urinary, and water basin had intake fractions of 0.16%, 0.08%, and 0.05% respectively, which are much higher than that in normal indoor environments of 0.001%-0.01%. This study can help propose control measures for sanitary facilities, such as bubble prevention and personalized exhaust.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Intake fraction
KW - Public toilet
KW - Urinating
KW - Water flushing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85189942906&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference article published in proceeding or book
AN - SCOPUS:85189942906
T3 - Healthy Buildings 2023: Asia and Pacific Rim
BT - Healthy Buildings 2023
PB - International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate
T2 - Healthy Buildings 2023: Asia and Pacific Rim
Y2 - 17 July 2023 through 19 July 2023
ER -